Broad prospects for garment exports in Bangladesh

According to statistics of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers Exporters Association (BGMEA), in the previous financial year (July 2011 to June 2012), Bangladesh’s clothing exports amounted to US$19.09 billion, ranking the world’s second largest garment exporter, accounting for 78.6% of total exports of the country. Compared with the past 20 years, Bangladesh's clothing exports have shown rapid growth. According to predictions from McKinesy & Co, a world-renowned consulting company, garment exports from Bangladesh have broad prospects. By 2015, they will achieve double growth, and by 2020 they will achieve triple growth.

According to Faruk Hassan, vice president of BGMEA, further penetration into the global market will be more challenging in the future. In order to maintain the growth trend of garment exports, we must pay close attention to the overall situation of the industry and the problems faced, and explore new growth potential. In the past 30 years, the number of garment factories in Bangladesh has increased dramatically from 384 in 1984 to 5,400 in 2012, and the number of employees has reached 4 million.